Reports from cannabis users that the drug reduces the symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) may finally be explained by new research from the University of Bath showing that cannabinoids help control and prevent intestine inflammation in mice.
This is the first time scientists have reported a biological mechanism to explain why some marijuana users have reported beneficial effects from cannabis on intestine inflammation conditions such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.
Researchers from Bath, working with colleagues at University of Massachusetts Medical School, hope that their findings will help develop new drugs and treatments for gut disorders, which affect millions of people around the world and are caused when the body’s immune defences mistakenly attack the lining of the intestine.
